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Al-Qaeda tribal allies protest US airstrike
 As I noted to Bill Roggio via telephone this evening, Damadola and the villages like it have basically been under de facto al-Qaeda rule since at least 2004 if not earlier - which may have been one of the reasons why we were able to track Ayman's movements, since he felt secure enough to start moving openly again.Thousands of tribesmen on Saturday protested a purported US air strike that targeted Al Qaedaâs No. 2 near the Afghan border and left at least 17 people dead, witnesses said. The demonstration, which was peaceful, took place in Inayat Qala, about six kilometers (four miles) from Damadola where the strike happened early Friday. Pakistani officials and US news networks reported the target of the attack was Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Ladenâs top lieutenant. Witnesses estimated that more than 8,000 people attended the protest. A local Islamic party lawmaker, Sahibzada Haroon ur Rashid, said all the victims of the attack were local people and condemned it as âopen terrorism.â Obaidullah, a local doctor, said the protesters included supporters of various political parties. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-01-14 |
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